Trina McDonald Delivers nearly 200,000 Signatures on Demanding a Plan to End Military Sexual Assaults

WASHINGTON, DC - On Tuesday, June 4th, Trina McDonald, a survivor of military sexual assault, will deliver more than 200,000 petition signatures to members of Congress, calling on them to fix the military’s broken justice system and move the decision to prosecute military sexual assault out of the chain of command.

Just last week, Trina's months-long campaign to move the decision to prosecute military sexual assault out of the chain of command received a huge boost when Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) called Trina and told her she would become a co-sponsor of the Military Justice Improvement Act, authored by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY). The bill will have its first hearing in front of the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services on Tuesday.

WHAT: Military rape survivor delivers petition signatures to Congress calling for revisions of the Uniform Code of Military Justice to move the decision to prosecute sexual assault out of the chain of command. Trina McDonald will be delivering 113,000 signatures that she gathered on MoveOn.org, as well as 85,000 additional signatures collected by Rep. Jackie Speier and Courage Campaign.

WHO: Trina McDonald -- a survivor of military sexual assault featured in Oscar-nominated documentary The Invisible War, a MoveOn.org member, and a MoveOn petition creator. She'll be joined by Garlin Gilchrist II, a campaign director with MoveOn.org and Eddie Kurtz, director of campaigns for Courage Campaign.

WHERE & WHEN: To follow Trina to her meetings or for details on the schedule and Trina’s availability throughout the day, please contact Brett Abrams at 516-841-1105 or by email at brett@fitzgibbonmedia.com.

In the Senate, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s (D-NY) Military Justice Improvement Act would give the power to prosecute military sexual assault to a trained military prosecutor, while in the House, Rep. Jackie Speier’s (D-CA) STOP Act would similarly move the power to prosecute out of the chain of command.

For more information, or for interviews, please contact Brett Abrams at 516-841-1105 or by email at brett@fitzgibbonmedia.com.

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